Guns in Arizona: Gun lobby has firm grip on state

Conservative legislators continue to heed powerful voice

by Alia Beard Rau - Jul. 13, 2011 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

This year, the gun debate dominated the Arizona Legislature, overshadowing even illegal immigration.

The session started just days after the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others near Tucson. It ended with Gov. Jan Brewer vetoing two bills that would have made Arizona the most gun-friendly state in the nation.

During the three months in between, the gun lobby worked tirelessly and wielded its considerable influence to try to decrease restrictions on Arizonans' right to buy, own, carry and use firearms.

More than a dozen bills written by the gun lobbyists were introduced this session. The lobbyists were a constant presence at the Legislature. They carried with them the power of a political stance that conservative politicians in Arizona must support to remain electable, as well as the strength of thousands of members who made their opinions known via letters and e-mails.

Three groups were behind most of the measures and carried the most influence behind the scenes at the Legislature: the Tucson-based non-profit Arizona Citizens Defense League, the Washington, D.C.-based National Rifle Association and Tucson lobbyist Todd Rathner, who in the past has represented the NRA and this session worked with Colt's Manufacturing Co.

Although each had a separate agenda, they worked together often this session, united in their push for the Legislature to eliminate restrictions on gun possession and use in Arizona. They went into the session predicting success with the help of a newly elected Legislature dominated by pro-gun conservative Republicans and a governor with a strong history of supporting Second Amendment legislation.

They came out of the session surprised and frustrated by some of the defeats. The two most controversial bills - to allow guns on college campuses and into public buildings - were vetoed. Brewer in her veto letters criticized the bills for being "poorly written."

Several smaller bills became law, including making the Colt Single Action Army Revolver the state firearm and redefining the justifications for use of force in defense of a home or vehicle.

"I think for gun owners, this was probably a 60/40 year," Rathner said. "In an environment where we had a terrible tragic mass shooting in Tucson, no anti-gun bills were passed. But, by the same token, we only passed a couple of good gun bills."

The lobbyists said they have no plans to give up on getting more "good" gun bills that loosen restrictions passed. They vow to be back next year smarter and savvier.

Who they are

Although the three gun-lobby groups often work together in their push for fewer gun restrictions in Arizona, each tackles the job in different ways and has unique strengths. The Arizona Citizens Defense League has local voters behind it. Todd Rathner, who owns his own lobbying firm, works his personal connections. And the NRA has its national reputation.

- The Arizona Citizens Defense League is a grass-roots group started with the intent to coordinate a statewide effort to expand the rights of gun owners. Group leaders work year-round developing legislation, meeting with lawmakers and advocating for and against measures.

This year, the league was behind both Senate Bill 1467 to require colleges to allow guns on campus and SB 1201 to require public buildings to allow guns unless they have metal detectors and armed guards.

"We started out with four guys six years ago, and we're just shy of 5,000 now," spokesman Charles Heller said, adding that members come from around the world, including a machine-gun dealer in England. "Thirty percent of Arizona legislators are members of our organization."

Heller would not identify the lawmakers.

The group hosts an annual meeting. Members are encouraged to vote for pro-gun candidates as well as influence legislators by sending letters and e-mails.

- Rathner worked as a lobbyist at the Arizona Legislature for the NRA for several years. He still serves on that organization's board of directors, but last year, he started his own lobbying firm. This year, he represented Colt and the Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association, among others. He is a familiar face around the Legislature, is passionate about gun rights and knows how the game of lawmaking is played in Arizona. He gets to know legislators well and can often be found whispering in someone's ear.

During his decade at the Legislature, Rathner helped push for the law to eliminate the requirement for a concealed-carry permit as well as the one that required employers to allow employees to keep firearms in their vehicles in a business' parking lot.

This year, he successfully finagled on behalf of Colt a last-minute revote to get the Army revolver named the official state gun.

- Matt Dogali out of Virginia handles lobbying efforts for the NRA in Arizona as well as overseeing the national organization's lobbying in Idaho and Wyoming.

At the start of the session, he said, the NRA's primary focus in Arizona was to simplify the laws surrounding the use of force in certain situations. That measure did become law.

Dogali wasn't at the Legislature as often as the other lobbyists. His power is in his organization's name, its number of members and the postcards it sends to voters about candidate stances on gun issues.

How they work

During the months before the Legislature starts in January, the gun lobbyists individually meet with lawmakers and their own stakeholders and develop a strategy for the session. They decide which issues to focus on and write the bills they will ask sympathetic lawmakers to propose.

"We pick out our most important priority and our prime bill, which SB 1201 was," Heller said, referring to the bill to allow guns in public buildings. "Then, we have our other bills. We are never going to tell you which is our prime bill and which isn't. We decide in advance what we're willing to give up to get our prime bill done."

Once the session begins, lobbyists meet with lawmakers to make sure the politicians understand the bills and can be counted on to support them.

"We'll also reach out to the governor's staff and say, 'This is the bill. Do you have any issues with it?' and try to alleviate any concerns that may be there," Rathner said.

Lobbyists meet with House and Senate leadership to make sure their bills are assigned to favorable committees and move through the process. The gun lobbyists can easily pop into an influential lawmaker's office while less influential lobbyists must make an appointment.

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, sponsored several gun bills this session. He said gun lobbyists don't have to buy their influence; they have the voting power of their members to use as leverage.

"The National Rifle Association has clout just by the fact that they have a million members. (Lawmakers) are afraid of the NRA. They have the ability to get their message out," Gould said. "And the Citizens Defense League can probably generate as many e-mails in Arizona as the NRA can."

The Citizens Defense League also is at the Capitol working with lawmakers nearly every day during the session, Gould said.

Rathner said this session was unusual because of the number of freshman lawmakers, especially in the House.

"Many were unproven, and it was hard to judge where exactly they would be on a bill," Rathner said. "We had to do our best to educate them and try to get them to vote our way. And politics is fluid, so you have legislators constantly re-evaluating their positions on things."

The guns-on-campus bill was an example of lawmakers changing their positions. The bill originally would have allowed guns everywhere on campus, including in classrooms. It appeared to have the votes in the Senate, but it was watered down to allow guns only on campus rights-of-way to ensure it would pass in the House.

During the final floor votes on a bill, the lobbyists can often be found in the hallways or lawmakers' lobby, ready to answer questions or push a lawmaker who may not be lining up to vote the way they want.

That tactic saved the bill designating a state gun. The bill failed in the early hours of the last day of session, but Rathner was there.

"I scrambled to get a couple of legislators to organize a reconsideration vote and, within 15 minutes, we had a reconsideration," he said. "There were a few legislators who had been committed yeses but because of things said on the floor voted no. I scrambled to ask them why they voted no and would they reconsider."

The bill passed the second time.

"To me, it's a three-dimensional chess game," Rathner said. "You're dealing with 91 people, and you've got 91 different personalities. You want to give as little as you have to give, and it's a challenge to figure out how to get the votes. That's why lobbying is an art, not a science."

Outcomes and plans

Arizona this year tied with Utah and Alaska as having the worst gun-safety laws in the nation, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence. All three states got zero points. Had Brewer not vetoed the measures allowing guns on campus and in public buildings, the state likely would have been alone at the top next year with negative points.

Heller called Arizona's ranking this year a victory.

"Hallelujah, we finally got a perfect score," he said.

He said he doesn't consider this year's legislative defeats as failures.

"We are perfectly willing to encounter a defeat and learn from it and learn who our friends are and aren't and what we need to change to make the bill go through," Heller said. "We're willing to be defeated if it moves us forward."

Rathner said they learned from Brewer's vetoes, saying the groups will try to craft bills next session that are more specific. He said the lobbyists will work closely with Brewer's staff to develop something she can sign.

Heller said he believes the vetoes of the two major gun bills this session, as well as a reluctance from some Republican lawmakers to support the measures in their original form, were less about the bills and more about concerns about the political ramifications of signing such measures only months after the shooting near Tucson.

"After that terrible incident, they just couldn't provide themselves with any political cover to support what we were doing," he said. "But I really believe next year will be very different."

Coming up

The easing of gun restrictions has helped Arizona firearms retailers and manufacturers approach a record sales year.

Sunday

The role of firearms in crime and violence remains as hotly debated as ever. Also, in Viewpoints, expert analysis.

About this series

On Jan. 8, six people were killed and 13 others wounded in a mass shooting near Tucson. As a debate about gun safety raged across the country and in Arizona, where state lawmakers ultimately passed new laws easing restrictions on gun owners, The Arizona Republic began examining the role of the firearm in state politics, commerce and life. The goal: to bring context to an issue that has been debated longer than Arizona has been a state. What's your view? Join the discussion at facebook.com/azcentral.